Separating Power Domains of Central Processing Units

ABSTRACT

A circuit includes a central processing unit (CPU), which includes a first memory block having a first power domain; and a core block signally connected to the first memory block and having a second power domain disconnected from the first power domain.

This application claims the benefit of and is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 14/590,617, filed on Jan. 6, 2015, and entitled“Separating Power Domains of Central Processing Units,” whichapplication claims the benefit of and is a continuation application ofU.S. application Ser. No. 12/751,670 filed on Mar. 31, 2010, entitled“Separating Power Domains of Central Processing Units,” whichapplication claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/186,728 filed on Jun. 12, 2009, entitled “Separating Power Domains ofCentral Processing Units,” all of which applications are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates generally to power management schemes of centralprocessing units (CPUs).

BACKGROUND

Central processing units (CPUs) are widely used in personal computers,and embedded applications, such as videos, graphics, wirelesscommunications, and the like, are key components of many system-on-chip(SoC) applications. A common requirement to the design of CPUs is toincrease their energy efficiency. The energy efficiency may be measuredusing a performance to power ratio, which may be, for example, millioninstructions per second (MIPS)/mW or million operations per second(MOPS)/mW. MIPS are units for expressing performance and indicate howmany millions of instructions the CPU can process per second.

In general, power consumption is proportional to the square of anapplied power supply voltage. A decrease in the power supply voltage ishence the most effective way to reduce power consumption. In a wholesystem, the clock frequency of a CPU is the highest among all thenecessary building blocks in order to meet application requirements. Asa result, power consumption and heat generation are also the highestamong all building blocks. Accordingly, reducing a CPU's powerconsumption is the most effective way to reduce the system's overallpower consumption. However, reducing the power supply voltage of a CPUmay result in the speed of the CPU being reduced. Dynamic power supplycontrol thus comes into play. Known dynamic power supply controltechniques include dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS)techniques and adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) techniques, which havebeen used to improve energy efficiency. DVFS and AVS techniques have theability to dynamically reduce power supply voltage to satisfy differentoperating conditions and different operation requirements. For example,if it is determined that a low performance is required or the externalenvironment allows for a reduced power supply voltage, the power supplyvoltage provided to the CPU is reduced. Otherwise, the power supplyvoltage is maintained or even increased.

The DVFS and AVS techniques, however, suffer from limitations in bothSoC and system-in-package (SiP) applications. For example, whenintegrated on SoC applications, a CPU may include embedded memories,such as level-1 cache memories. Referring to FIG. 1, CPU 100 includesmemory block 102 and core block 104. Core block 104 is built inlibraries and stored as “standard cells.” These libraries contain largenumbers of pre-designed circuits (also referred to as basic buildingblocks). Voltage regulator module 106 generates power supply voltage VDDand provides power supply voltage VDD to CPU 100. DVFS/AVS system 108determines the magnitude of, and controls voltage regulator module 106to generate, the desirable power supply voltage VDD.

The magnitude of power supply voltage VDD must be high enough to satisfythe Vcc_min requirement of memory block 102, wherein Vcc_min is theminimum power supply voltage needed to reliably perform read and writeoperations on memory block 102. Unfortunately, the Vcc_min is typicallygreater than the minimum operation voltage of core block 104. This meansthat a reduction in the power consumption of core block 104 is capped bythe requirement of memory block 102.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a circuitincludes a central processing unit (CPU), which includes a first memoryblock having a first power domain; and a core block signally connectedto the first memory block and having a second power domain disconnectedfrom the first power domain.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a circuitincludes a CPU. The CPU includes a first memory block having a firstpower domain; and a second memory block having a second power domainseparated from the first power domain. The circuit further includes afirst voltage regulator module connected to the first memory block andconfigured to generate a first operation voltage for the first powerdomain; a first dynamic voltage controller connected to, andcontrolling, the first voltage regulator module to generate the firstoperation voltage; and a second voltage regulator module separated fromthe first voltage regulator module and connected to the core block. Thesecond voltage regulator module is configured to generate a secondoperation voltage different from the first operation voltage for thesecond power domain.

The advantageous features of the present invention include maximizedenergy efficiency in the CPU and flexible power management schemes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present invention, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional power management scheme for a centralprocessing unit (CPU);

FIGS. 2 through 7 are embodiments of the present invention, whereinpower domains of memory blocks in CPUs are separated from power domainsof core blocks; and

FIGS. 8 are 9 are system-in-package (SiP) applications in accordancewith embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

The making and using of the embodiments of the present invention arediscussed in detail below. It should be appreciated, however, that theembodiments provide many applicable inventive concepts that can beembodied in a wide variety of specific contexts. The specificembodiments discussed are merely illustrative of specific ways to makeand use the invention, and do not limit the scope of the invention.

A novel power management scheme for central processing units (CPUs) isprovided. The variations and the operation of the embodiment are thendiscussed. Throughout the various views and illustrative embodiments ofthe present invention, like reference numbers are used to designate likeelements.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention, whichincludes CPU 12. Chip 10, in which CPU 12 is located, may includesystem-on-chip (SoC) applications. Besides CPU 12, chip 10 may alsoinclude additional components, including, but not limited to, additionalmaster block 114 and slave blocks 112. Each of blocks 114 and 112 mayadopt a same power management scheme as CPU 12, as will be discussed indetail in subsequent paragraphs. Other components, such as additionalmemories separated from CPU 12, slave blocks 112, and master block 114,may also be included. CPU 12 includes memory block 20, which may beembedded inside, although it can also be external to, CPU 12. CPU 12also includes core block 40, which may be signally connected to memoryblock 20. That is, core block 40 may access memory block 20. In anexemplary embodiment, memory block 20 may include a level-1 (L1) cache.Core block 40, which may also be a logic circuit, may include aninstruction fetch circuit, an instruction decode circuit, a registerfile circuit, a cache controller and the like.

Memory block 20 and core block 40 may have separated power domains.Throughout the description, the term “operation voltage” refers to thepositive power supply voltage, which is also known as VDD. In memoryblock 20, the power domain includes power line VDD_L1, which carriespositive operation voltage VDD1, and power line VSS_L1, which carriesvoltage VSS1 that is lower than voltage VDD1, wherein voltage VSS1 maybe an electrical ground voltage. In core block 40, the power domainincludes power line VDD_L2, which carries positive operation voltageVDD2, and power line VSS_L2, which carries voltage VSS2 lower thanvoltage VDD2. Again, voltage VSS2 may be an electrical ground voltage.The separate power domains of memory block 20 and core block 40 meanthat power line VDD_L1 is separate from power line VDD_L2, and henceoperation voltage VDD1 is not tied to operation voltage VDD2. In anembodiment, with the separate power domains, power line VDD_L1 isseparated from power line VDD_L2, and power line VSS_L1 is separatedfrom power line VSS_L2. In alternative embodiments, with the separatepower domains, power line VDD_L1 is separated from power line VDD_L2,while power line VSS_L1 is interconnected to power line VSS_L2.

Memory block 20 is connected to voltage regulator module 22 and todynamic voltage controller 24 that controls voltage regulator module 22to generate desirable operation voltage VDD1 for operating memory block20. Voltage regulator module 22 is capable of adjusting operationvoltage VDD1 to different levels, which may include a list of voltages,and/or a continuously-adjustable voltage. The generated voltage VDD1depends on the control signal provided by dynamic voltage controller 24.In an embodiment, dynamic voltage controller 24 adopts a dynamic voltageand frequency scaling (DVFS) technology, which is an energy-savingtechnology that may vary the frequency and voltage of a processor inreal-time according to processing needs. For example, if CPU 12 needs toprocess a heavy-load work (such as a video application), dynamic voltagecontroller 24 that adopts the DVFS technology may control voltageregulator module 22 to generate a high operation voltage VDD1, so thatthe performance and the frequency of CPU 12 may be increased.Alternatively, if CPU 12 needs to process a light-load work (such as anaudio application), dynamic voltage controller 24 that adopts the DVFStechnology may control voltage regulator module 22 to generate a lowoperation voltage VDD1, so that the performance and the frequency of CPU12 may be reduced. In alternative embodiments, dynamic voltagecontroller 24 adopts an adaptive voltage scaling (AVS) technology, whichuses a closed-loop monitoring system to monitor system margin bycomparing expected and actual operating conditions. By using the AVStechnology, operation voltage VDD1 can be reduced (optimized) withoutsacrificing operational stability. In alternative embodiments, dynamicvoltage controller 24 adopts both DVFS and AVS technologies. By usingdynamic voltage controller 24 and voltage regulator module 22, operationvoltage VDD1 that is provided to memory block 20 may be adjusted tooptimize the operation and the power consumption of memory block 20.

Core block 40 is connected to voltage regulator module 42 and dynamicvoltage controller 44 that controls voltage regulator module 42 togenerate desirable operation voltage VDD2 for operating core block 40.Similarly, voltage regulator module 42 is capable of adjusting operationvoltage VDD2 to different levels, which may include a list of voltagesand/or a continuously-adjustable voltage. The generated voltage VDD2also depends on the control signal provided by dynamic voltagecontroller 44. The available voltages VDD1 and VDD2 may be differentfrom, or identical to, each other. For example, the available voltagesVDD1 that can be generated by voltage regulator module 22 may form afirst voltage list, while the available voltages VDD2 that can begenerated by voltage regulator module 42 may form a second voltage list.At least one voltage is in one of the first voltage list and the secondvoltage list, but not in the other. Dynamic voltage controller 44 mayalso adopt DVFS and/or AVS technologies to generate desirable operationvoltage VDD2, so that operation voltage VDD2 provided to core block 40may be adjusted to optimize the operation and the power consumption ofcore block 40. Voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 may be identical toeach other, or may be different from each other, for example, havingdifferent designs.

Since the power domains of memory block 20 and core block 40 areseparated, each of memory block 20 and core block 40 may be providedwith an optimized operation voltage that is not restricted by therequired operation voltage of the other. For example, at a low-powermode that does not require a high voltage, operation voltage VDD2 may bereduced to 0.7V so that the power consumption of core circuit 40 is low.Memory block 20 may be operated at 1.0V to maintain an adequate staticnoise margin to meet the Vcc min requirement.

FIG. 3 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention.This embodiment is essentially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.2, except that voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 are external to chip10. Since voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 may include analogcircuits, separating them from the digital circuits in chip 10 mayincrease the yield in the manufacturing of chip 10.

Referring to FIG. 4, CPU 12 includes additional memory block 60connected to voltage regulator module 62, which may have essentially thesame function as voltage regulator modules 22 and 42. Voltage regulator62 is connected to, and controlled by, dynamic voltage controller 64,which may also have essentially the same function as dynamic voltagecontrollers 24 and 44. The power domain of memory block 60 may beseparated from the power domains of memory block 20 and/or core block40. Accordingly, power line VDD_L3 is disconnected from power linesVDD_L1 and/or VDD_L2. Further, power line VSS_L3 may also bedisconnected from power lines VSS_L1 and/or VSS_L2, although two, or allof three, of them may be interconnected. In an embodiment, memory block20 includes an L1 cache, while memory block 60 includes a level-2 (L2)cache. In alternative embodiments, memory blocks 20 and 60 comprisedifferent types of memories selected from, but not limited to,non-volatile memories (flash memories), magneto-resistive random accessmemory (MRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), phase change randomaccess memory (PCRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), resistiverandom access memory (RRAM), and the like.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention.This embodiment is essentially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.4, except that voltage regulator modules 22, 42, and 62 are external tochip 10.

In FIG. 6, each of memory block 20, additional memory block 60, and coreblock 40 are connected to a separate voltage regulator module, namelyvoltage regulator modules 22, 42, and 62. A common dynamic voltagecontroller 24 controls voltage regulator modules 22, 42 and 62. Again,the power domains of memory block 20, additional memory block 60, andcore block 40 are separated from each other, and hence the respectivepower supply voltages VDD1, VDD3, and VDD2 may be optimized and may bedifferent from each other.

FIG. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of the present invention.This embodiment is essentially the same as the embodiment shown in FIG.6, except that voltage regulator modules 22, 42, and 62 are external tochip 10. Again, in each of FIGS. 5 through 7, like elements are used todesignate like components as shown in FIG. 4.

The embodiments shown in FIGS. 2 through 7 are SoC applications. FIGS. 8and 9 illustrate system-in-package (SiP) applications. Referring to FIG.8, core block 40, voltage regulator modules 22 and 42, and dynamicvoltage controllers 24 and 44 are in die 80. Memory block 20 is inanother die 82. The connections such as the connection between coreblock 40 and memory block 20 and the connection between voltageregulator module 22 and memory block 20 may be made throughthrough-silicon vias (TSVs) 84. Dies 80 and 20 may be combined into asame package.

Core block 40 and dynamic voltage controllers 24 and 44 determine theoptimum operation voltages for core block 40 and memory block 20,respectively, according to process/temperature conditions and/orsoftware commands, and send control signals to voltage regulator modules22 and 42 through signal lines 88. Voltage regulator module 22 generatesa corresponding voltage for memory block 20, and provides the voltage tomemory 20 through TSV 84_1. Voltage regulator module 42 generates acorresponding voltage for core block 40, and provides the voltage tocore block 40. TSV 84_6 is for providing control signals foraddress/data read/write control.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment, wherein core block 40 and dynamicvoltage controllers 24 and 44 are in die 80, while memory block 20 is indie 82. Voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 are each in a separate die86. Again, the connections between dies 80, 82, and 86 are made throughthrough-silicon vias (TSVs) 84. Dies 80, 84, and 86 may be combined intoa same package. Again, TSV 84_6 is for providing control signals foraddress/data read/write control.

Core block 40 and dynamic voltage controllers 24 and 44 determine theoperating voltages for core block 40 and memory block 20 according toprocess/temperature conditions and/or software commands, and sendcontrol signals to voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 through TSV 84_2and TSV 84_3, respectively. Voltage regulator modules 22 and 42 generateoperation voltages for core block 40 and memory block 20 and provide theoperation voltage to core block 40 and memory block 20 through TSVs 84_4and 84_5, respectively.

By separating the power domains of memory blocks and core blocks inCPUs, the operation voltages of the memory blocks and the core blocksmay be adjusted to optimum values, so that the power consumption of theCPUs can be minimized, while the performance of the CPUs can still meetrequirements. Experiments have revealed that by separating the powerdomains of memory blocks and core blocks, the power consumption of CPUscan be reduced up to 20 percent as compared to similar CPUs havingun-separated power domains.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described indetail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions andalterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, thescope of the present application is not intended to be limited to theparticular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, andcomposition of matter, means, methods and steps described in thespecification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readilyappreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes,machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps,presently existing or later to be developed, that perform substantiallythe same function or achieve substantially the same result as thecorresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according tothe present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended toinclude within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture,compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps. In addition, eachclaim constitutes a separate embodiment, and the combination of variousclaims and embodiments are within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A circuit comprising: a processor comprising: afirst memory block having a first power domain; and a core block coupledto the first memory block and having a second power domain; and a logiccircuit coupled to the first memory block and having a third powerdomain; wherein one or more voltage controllers controlling a firstoperational voltage of the first power domain and controlling a secondoperational voltage of the second power domain and controlling a thirdoperational voltage of the third power domain; the one or more voltagecontrollers is configured to set the second operational voltage to afirst voltage level lower than the first operational voltage and thethird operational voltage in a logic-circuit-focused workload mode; andthe one or more voltage controllers is configured to set the thirdoperational voltage to a second voltage level lower than the firstoperational voltage and the second operational voltage in acore-block-focused workload mode.
 2. The circuit of claim 1 furthercomprising a first voltage regulator module and a second voltageregulator module separate from the first voltage regulator module. 3.The circuit of claim 2, wherein the one or more voltage controllers areconnected to, and control, each of the first voltage regulator moduleand the second voltage regulator module.
 4. The circuit of claim 2,wherein the first voltage regulator module and the second voltageregulator module are in a same die as the processor.
 5. The circuit ofclaim 2, wherein the one or more voltage controllers comprises: a firstdynamic voltage controller connected to, and controlling, the firstvoltage regulator module; and a second dynamic voltage controllerconnected to, and controlling, the second voltage regulator module,wherein the first dynamic voltage controller and the second dynamicvoltage controller are separated from each other.
 6. The circuit ofclaim 2, wherein the first memory block is in a first die of a package,and wherein the core block is in a second die of the package.
 7. Thecircuit of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first operation voltageand the second operation voltage are configured according to at least asoftware command received during operation of the processor.
 8. Acircuit comprising: a processor comprising: a first memory block havinga first power domain and comprising a first type of memory; and a secondmemory block having a second power domain separated from the first powerdomain, the second memory block comprising a second type of memorydifferent from the first type of memory; a first voltage regulatormodule coupled to the first memory block and configured to generate afirst operation voltage for the first power domain; and a second voltageregulator module coupled to the second memory block and configured togenerate a second operation voltage for the second power domain.
 9. Thecircuit of claim 8, wherein at least one of the first operation voltageand the second operation voltage are configured according to at least asoftware command received during operation of the processor.
 10. Thecircuit of claim 8, further comprising a first voltage controllercoupled to, and controlling, the first voltage regulator module togenerate the first operation voltage during operation of the processor.11. The circuit of claim 10, further comprising a second voltagecontroller coupled to, and controlling, the second voltage regulatormodule to generate the second operation voltage, wherein the firstvoltage controller and the second voltage controller are separated fromeach other.
 12. The circuit of claim 8, wherein at least one of thefirst operation voltage and the second operation voltage are dynamicallyconfigured according to a control signal generated in response to atleast a software command received during operation of the processor. 13.The circuit of claim 8, wherein each of the first voltage regulatormodule and the second voltage regulator module is configured to generatea plurality of positive voltages.
 14. The circuit of claim 8, furthercomprising a first dynamic voltage controller connected to, andcontrolling, the first voltage regulator module to dynamically generatethe first operation voltage during operation of the processor; andwherein the first dynamic voltage controller adopts a technologyselected from the group consisting essentially of an adaptive voltagescaling (AVS) technology, a dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS)technology, and combinations thereof.
 15. The circuit of claim 14further comprising a second dynamic voltage controller connected to, andcontrolling, the second voltage regulator module to generate the secondoperation voltage, wherein the first voltage controller and the secondvoltage controller are separated from each other.
 16. The circuit ofclaim 8 wherein the first voltage regulator module is configured toprovide a first list of voltages and the second voltage regulator moduleis configured to provide a second list of voltages, one of the firstlist of voltages and the second list of voltages having at least onelisted voltage not in the other of the first list of voltages and thesecond list of voltages.
 17. The circuit of claim 15, the circuitfurther comprising: a first dynamic voltage controller; a first thoughsilicon via (TSV) disposed between the first dynamic voltage controllerand the first voltage regulator, the first dynamic voltage controllertransmitting control signals over the first TSV to the first voltageregulator to dynamically generate the first operation voltage duringoperation of the processor; and a second TSV disposed between the firstvoltage regulator and the first memory block, the first voltageregulator providing the first operational voltage over the second TSV tothe first memory block.
 18. A circuit comprising: a processorcomprising: a first memory block having a first power domain; and a coreblock coupled to the first memory block and having a second powerdomain; and one or more voltage controllers controlling a firstoperational voltage of the first power domain and controlling a secondoperational voltage of the second power domain, the first operationalvoltage and second operational voltage controlled separately; whereinthe one or more voltage controllers is configured to set the secondoperational voltage from a first voltage level to a second voltage levellower than 1.0V and different from the first voltage level and the firstoperational voltage.
 19. The circuit of claim 18, wherein the firstoperational voltage and second operational voltage controlled separatelybased on determination of an optimal first operational voltage and anoptimal second operational voltage by at least the core block.
 20. Thecircuit of claim 18, wherein the core block is operated at each of thefirst voltage level and second voltage level.